M14x Pre-Order Configuration Questions... Ask HERE (Part 2)

Thanks guys! Didn't know that the R2 had a different BIOS.

Also, thanks for the heads up about the backpacks and the having of no problems!

+rep for both

 

Tell me your email id.!
Happy to help

And you can obviously delete things you feel to be bloatware.!
Just dont delete alien command center and drivers and you'll be good.!
But trust me alienwares do not come with bloatwares

 

Hey all, considering to grab my first alienware here - have checked other laptop but seems this one fills my need the most. current build consideration is:

i7 3610m, 6gb ram, wled 900p upgrade, killer wireless upgrade and everything else stock.
for HDD, does it only have 1 msata port and 1 sata port?

Atm I'm considering msata 64gb msata as boot drive + 500gb non ssd option. any input on bad/good of this option?

Thanks for any info/pointer.

 

It is good. technically, you can swap out the optical drive for another hard drive sata I port, but it's not worth it because it's so slow, so yea, 1 msata and 1 sata port for the HD

 

PHP:

There are 1 each of hdd and msata sata 3 ports.!

And worth is kinda subjective issue.!
For many not even 32gb cache was not worth it..but i ordered it and its quite nice but acc to me 64gb upgrade is kinda costly..even though the pm830 satas are for oem only but still!

But i can tell one thing most probably you will the system you have choosen

 

Hey guys.
I’m a college student in engineering and I need a powerful yet portable computer, I’ll be doing some designing work mostly in solid works but I’m also going to use CATIA. Do you think the m14 is a good option?
Does anyone know if the nvidia card supports OpenGL? And do you think that getting the HDD+ 32 Gb SSD is a good upgrade for 70 dls?

 

Hi, I'm going to be in Engineering too, and I emailed my department director about the requirements, and he said that any somewhat decent computer suffices.

I'm personally getting the m14x with a 256gb ssd, and 16 gb of ram. (bought separately ofcourse)

I'd say that if you can't afford an SSD for the primary drive, go for it, but if you can flex your budget a bit, I'd get either a 128 or 256 gb ssd for about 100 and 240 dollars respectively.

For data, you can just have an external hard drive with usb 3.0 enabled, and that hard drive can sit in your dorm room, and be very large in size.

Dunno, It seems like the Hard drive situation is not the most important aspect of your purchase.

But bottom line is, if you want faster speeds than normal HDD speeds, go straight for a SSD. Don't bother with the msata ssds because they are very slow compared to ssds but twice as expensive usually.

SSDs are extremely cheap nowadays and you could probably get one for even cheaper than mentioned above.

 

Great, Thanks a lot.
I’ll see what I can do with my budget.

 

Possibly about to purchase m14x but I'd like some help/opinions please.

Ideally I want a 13"-14" relatively portable notebook with Ivy Bridge and a 650M GPU with a 900p or higher screen. Unfortunately, these don't seem to exist. The m14x is about the closest but I feel it's too bulky for a 14" notebook.

My biggest concerns are:

1. COOLING. Will always be my biggest concern, I hate hot notebooks. I heard the r1 didn't do so well and got quite hot. How's the new m14x in this department?

2. Build quality. How would you rate the sturdiness, build materials, etc of the notebook?

3. Screen. It has a great resolution but is it a nice display?

I was able to get the following quote:

3rd Generation Intel Core i7-3610QM (6MB Cache, up to 3.3GHz w/ Turbo Boost 2.0)

6GB DDR3 at 1600MHz

14.0" High Def+ (900p/1600x900) with WLED backlight

2 GB DDR5 NVIDIA GeForceGT 650M using NVIDIA Optimus technology

Killer Wireless-N 1202 a/g/n 2x2 MIMO for Gaming and Video and Bluetooth 4.0

Total price: $1143.42 + tax = $1249.47

Jump on it or can I get it even lower?

 

1. By gaming standards it is not hot but yeah it can reach to 60C quite sometimes!
2. Build quality is great.
3. Screen is great but glossy and reflective.!


By the way, how could you get such a low price for this config??

 

Cooling is average/good for its specs, build quality is superb, and screen is okay. Above price seems to be decent.

 

Great, thanks guys. If price is just decent, then I don't think I'll bite. I'm not in a rush just yet, I want a great deal.

I happen to like glossy screens, I was more referring to the quality/viewing angles of the display.

 

I was wondering if you can install the OS in a 32 mSata option and if that would be a wise choice or is it better to leave it as caching ssd?

 

@slaughterhouse
You are getting a decent price..discount of over 200$.!
I am asking how you got there??

@DTGRR
as far as i know formatted space on 32GB option goes down to 27-28GB and if os is installed in that then it will just be squeezed in or it may not have enough space for installation.!
Even if you manage to squeeze it i dont think it will work properly because it wont have any space for windows related files!

Hope it helps

 

Haggling through chat

Well I may be giving this badboy up for the new Envy 15. Guess I'll decide in the next couple of days.

 

Slaughterhouse: I'll be honest with you. You don't seem particularly keen on the Alienware. You've asked a lot of questions that pose a number of concerns you have with it.

That's fine. Not every laptop is for every person. If the only reason you're considering the m14x is because you got a good quote on it, and nothing else about it really grabs you, then you may want to look elsewhere. The HP Envy is also a fine machine. Sager/Clevo makes a good laptop too.

I quite like the styling and design behind the m14x, but I recognize it's not for everyone. Go with what will make you happy. Nobody will blame you for that.

 

Well, it certainly has its advantages. I want a beefed up machine in a somewhat small/portable package and the m14x certainly fits that in some way. And of course, the good quote was an added bonus. But yeah, there are just a few nagging annoyances that I feel would really distract me at times lol

But I still don't know, I may keep the order.

 

hey all

have placedy order at last, and didnt go for the msata. gonna go the aftermarket ssd route.

im considering to grab this guy - crucial m4 SSD 256b, anyone know if this is a good fit for the m14x? price seems reasonable (rnd $250 usd, but thats prolly brcause of strong yen...)

Amazon.co.jpF Crucial 2.5ƒCƒ“ƒ` “à‘ Œ^ SATA3.0‘Ήž M4 SSDƒVƒŠ[ƒY 256GB CT256M4SSD2: ƒpƒ\ƒRƒ“EŽü•Ó‹@Ší

i think i saw this bring discussed in one of the threads but I cant find it anymore...

 

The Crucial M4 is decent. However, try getting the Samsung 830 ssd instead if you can. The price is only about 10-20 dollars more expensive (I saw it listed at around 260 USD in newegg).

That's because the 830 has a much better track record in terms of reliability, and it looks sexier, and has software that optimizes the ssd. It is in a metallic casing instead of a plastic one.

In other words, go for the samsung 830 if you can, if you can't, the crucial m4 is still probably the best possible choice.

 

I agree with you that the Samsung is a better pick for reliability track record, but why should anyone care what their SSD looks like? It's going to be inside the casing.. the only time you'll actually see it is when you're installing it.

 

Call me weird, but I am a person who pays 3 bucks more for blue ram instead of black...

Anyhow, I think that just the reliability factor, is worth it, because 250 bucks is a crapload of money to start with and it would suck to not have the most reliable gear possible by paying 10-20 bucks more.

Also, the m14x being a laptop causes it to either get dropped sometimes or overheat. Metal doesn't crack during drops, and metallic casing actually disperses heat better than plastic, and therefore can lower temperatures and therefore lower chance of hardware failure.

 

how does the 3rd gen i5 3210 stack up to the i7 3610?
is the $100 upgrade worth it?

I cant find many benchmarks on the i5, seems new

 

The i5 is a dual-core, while the i7 is a quad-core. I think that absolutely makes it worth the upgrade.

 

Actually, the I5 is quadcore. The I7 gets to use hyperthreading to sometimes be as effective as an 8-core.

The difference really is, for gaming at least, lower power consumption, which is good for heat and battery issues, and approximately 10% increase in performance, that most people can't really sense, but it is a mathematical statistic.

Also, if you are into photoshop, movie editing, mathematics or engineering, the I7 is recommended for its hyperthreading ability.

 

I dont think the difference is not so superfitial!

It feels overall snappier in overall!

 

then, it's better than I thought I guess

 

No, it isn't. It's a dual-core with hyperthreading. See Intel's page for it here.

 

Yea, 2 cores with hyperthreading, which is essentially like 4 cores.

 

Whereas the quad-core also hyperthreads, so has essentially 8.

The point I'm trying to make is that the i7 has literally double the processing threads available that the i5 does. I think that makes it worth $100 easily.

 

Hey guys i know this has been asked time and time again but im very close to ordering and need a good answer as to whether the Intel Core i7 3720QM is worth the $200AU over the 3610QM.

I play diablo 3, WOW and SWTOR - will it effect these games?
I also need fast OS and program boot times - will it make any difference?

Thanks in advance and sorry i know this has been asked but I didn't find the answers overly clear nor specific to what i need

 

Will it cause a boost to performance? Yes, but it's a relatively modest one. Not $200-worth, certainly.

 

Ordered! I went with the 3720 just because i know im the type of person who will obsess over it in the long run at the first sign of any performance deficits. Now comes the antagonising wait (though i did get free express shipping by saying i was going away in 2 weeks *hint*)

 

Looking at ordering a m14x today. I am upgrading from my m11xr1.

I have one question though, is the lcd upgrade worth it?
Everthing else I have just set to stock low end except for the gpu.

Edit, I should add my uses for this laptop...

Games
BF2
l4d
portal
darksiders

Programs
Virtual DJ
Bendtech pro (basically a CAD software)
Music editing.

 

Yes. Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes.

In fact, if anyone were to ask for what single upgrade to get from stock, I'd pick the display before anything else.

1366x768 is just OK for an 11" screen, but for a 14" screen it is too low. You'll find that your desktop will get awfully crowded very quickly. 1600x900 is considered ideal right now for 14-15" screens.

In fact, unless you plan on hooking your laptop up to multiple external displays, if you're tight on budget, I would recommend using the money you were going to use for the GPU upgrade for the screen upgrade instead.

The 2GB graphics card will not perform significantly better than the 1GB version, despite what some people on this forum will tell you. It's still the same base graphics card, just with more memory tacked on.

 

Cool thanks, I am on a budget of 2k, but that also has to be shared with my home server ($400)

 

I would rather you go for m17x base + 150$ screen upgrade +haggling( ) if you can get it in your budget!
What say?

 

Thought about it, but I would be using it for travel. I have a alienware desktop for home gaming.

 

You should not buy the Alienware M14x in any configuration that includes the stock 1366x768 display and does not include the upgraded 1600x900 display, unless you require larger text for eyesight-related reasons. The stock 1366x768-resolution display makes things onscreen large, and has very poor image quality due to low contrast.

You also shouldn't upgrade the GPU to the 2GB version of the GT 650M from the 1GB version. The $100 memory upgrade will not considerably affect game performance, because the GT 650M core itself is more of a bottleneck than 1GB of memory is.

 

You might want to look at the following thread if you're into music software:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...incompatible-native-instruments-products.html

And yes, you should definitely get the LCD upgrade. You also dont really need 2GB of RAM for the 650M unless you plan on using external monitors. Many threads about 1GB vs 2GB on this forum.

 

Good info, maybe I will stay away from using the m14x for my controllers then. I can still use my m11x for the controllers since I know it works like a charm.

 

How is this configration guys. I plan to buy an m14x this week n i m super exxcited. 3rd gen i7 3820 (3.7 ghz with turbo boost),2 gb nvidia 650 m with optimus, 8 gb ram, 1600x 900 resolution lcd,500 gb 7200 rpm hard drive. I plan ti do sime heavy gaming and programming. Will this configuration be good enough. I want ssd to but its going out of budget. Anythng in this configuration that i can change n get a ssd insted which will improve the perfrmance?
Thanks!

 

The CPU could be dropped down to a cheaper i7 without harming your performance too much. The difference between them is not substantial enough to justify the $200-$350 increase in price.

The 2GB graphics card will not really improve gaming performance over the 1GB card. Since they're both 650m cards, they will render at the same speed. You could put that money toward the SSD if you'd like.

Also you can always replace the HDD with an SSD yourself after you buy it for far cheaper than what Dell charges. (Doing so will NOT void your warranty either.)

 

Alright everyone I really need some help here. I've got a few questions
First I am a soon to be college student going into computer science and I want something with power but on a budget.. I am an avid gamer but normally stay on the console side but back when you didn't need a super computer to play most games I played allot of MoHAA and CoD4 (still do sometimes)
I've got a low end desktop rig which can barley run CoD4 (Dell Slimline with Intel Quadcore) with a pretty basic slimline card. I am planning on doing some gaming (CoD series, BF3, other FPS, Portal, Fallout 3, possibly some RPGS), music production in my spare time, video editing (sony vegas), and of course all my schoolwork.
Now onto my questions
1. My main concern is longevity. How well do you think an MX14 would hold up for the next 2/3/4 years? In gaming specs and in just functioning (I've had a dell laptop crap out on me before within a year of owning with mild/heavy use)
2. Are they really worth the price? I love the look and style of the computer but I've been told time and time again that Alienware is all about image and not about hardware and its all overpriced. Now being someone into computers but not really big on laptops and prices how true is this statement really?
3. Are the differences in between the 3610QM and 3720QM really enough to upgrade?
4. Would the GPU be upgradable later?
5. Does the MX14 run smoothly when doing simple tasks? I tend to keep 10-20 internet tabs open at once (I don't know why but I always do) does the MX14 handle multitasking well?
6. Is it worth spending all my money on an Alienware rig? Or is it just a typical beefed up laptop? Would I be better off just getting a cheap little laptop or is this going to last and be relevant in running games 2/3 years from now decently?

I have a few more questions but those are some main concerns.
Here is the rig I've built. And this is REALLY pushing my spending limits.

PROCESSOR :3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-3610QM (6MB Cache, up to 3.3GHz w/ Turbo Boost 2.0)
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit
MEMORY 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 1600MHz
HARD DRIVE 750GB 7,200 RPM SATA 3Gb/s edit
WIRELESS CARDS Intel® Centrino® Wireless-N 2230 With Bluetooth 4.0
INTERNAL OPTICAL DRIVE Slot Load Dual Layer DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW)

COLOR Stealth Black with Soft Touch Finish
PERSONALIZED PLATE Personalized Plate
ALIENFX COLOR Mars Red
WALLPAPER Alienhead Chrome Red edit
PRE-INSTALLED SOFTWARE Steam and Portal™ Factory Installed
PRE-INSTALLED SOFTWARE Skype VOIP Software Application
My Accessories
WARRANTY AND SERVICE 1 Year Basic Plan
Primary Battery 63WHr 8-Cell Primary Battery
VIDEO CARD 2 GB DDR5 NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 650M with Optimus™
LCD PANEL 14.0" High Def+ (900p/1600x900) with WLED backlight
SOUND OPTIONS Creative Sound Blaster Recon3Di with THX TruStudio Pro Software
WIRELESS HD None
Alienware M14X 150W A/C Adapter
Adobe Reader Acrobat SW Adobe Acrobat X Reader
NAMEPLATE Thank you for Purchasing Alienware

All of that would be 1,370 and thats even pushing my budget (like I said soon to be college student so I've spent a ton of money already and lots of left over graduation money and some student loans are going towards this)

If anyone has suggestions or anything of the sort to still have alot of power but save some money or somethings I can change please let me know. I have really fallen in love with the design but I don't know if the money is worth the jump so some answers from people who own the laptop could really help me out.
Thanks for your help everyone! This forum is pretty awesome!
Sorry for the long first post!

 

I can't personally answer all your questions, since I just got mine and it's my first AW, but I can answer a few.

3. Nope. Not at the price Dell is offering , certainly.
4. No. It is not.

As far as saving money, I don't think you need a 2GB graphics card, because it's not going to render anything quicker than the 1GB will. Also you should look at the threads on the main Alienware forum about getting discounts (For example, call up Dell, get a US sales rep, and haggle with them. You can get your price lowered a bit.)

Just some general observations on gaming long-term that isn't specific to the m14x... currently PC gaming is held back by the current console generation. Many games are being developed still with the Xbox 360 in mind, and that is currently over 5 years old. When the new console generation hits in a year or two, I think we're likely to see game requirements jump quite a bit. Gaming laptops now -all of them- are probably going to have a hard time with new releases by 2014ish.

 

Okay thank you for your answers. I'm not sure how exactly to get a hold of a US sales rep. I never do. I'm hoping to get a bit more insite before I pull the trigger. And by the time 2014 comes I'm sure I'll have upgraded consoles so I'm not to worried about that. I'm hoping by then to have a PC rig. I just want to know is the MX14 R2 really built to last for the next few years doing just tasks or is the hardware soon to be outdated?

 

A gaming-grade laptop now will most certainly still be able to run basic tasks 5 years from now.

Let me put it this way: My m14x is replacing an 8-year old IBM Thinkpad. If you get a decent laptop (and the m14x has PLENTY of reviews saying it is one), and if you take care of it properly, then it should be fine for quite some time.

 

How are the specs that I have?
Anyone provide some incite on my other questions? I'd really like multiple points of view

 

I disagree about the CPU thing.. while dells upgrade prices are a little silly, i personally notice an increase from 2.3 to 2.6. I dont mean a substantial fps increase, just overall system improvement. I dont have any comparisons to present so youll have to take my word for it haha.

As for the video card thing, mac is right... unfortunatly in canada the ONLY option we were given (when i ordered) was the 2gb. I personally got the 750 gb 7200 rpm HDD / 32 GB SSD for cache combo... but if you got the $$ and your tech savy, then replacing it altogether for a larger SSD is definatly the better option (as mac stated).

My laptop gets here tomorrow or the next day, so i'll give you a more personal review on the cache combination, although i dont expect it to be a HUGE improvement over a single 7200 rpm HDD (but for 50$ i figured what the heck!)

By the way, the specs i chose for my soon to be here system was:

PROCESSOR :3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-3710QM (6MB Cache, up to 3.6GHz w/ Turbo Boost 2.0)
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit
MEMORY 12GB Dual Channel DDR3 1600MHz
HARD DRIVE 750GB 7,200 RPM SATA / 32 GB SSD CACHE
WIRELESS CARDS killer network 1202 card (really havnt seen many reviews on this, but it was only an extra 30$!)
INTERNAL OPTICAL DRIVE Slot Load Dual Layer DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW)


Cheers

 

We have very similar specs, so id say good job!

Seriously though, like i said in my above post, im all for upgrading the cpu (i dont know the costs where you live, in canada i believe it was only a 90-100$ increase to the 2.6 ghz) Also , i coughed up a little extra for the killer network card (again, it was only 30$ where i live.. might be more for you).

Besides that, 8 gb is great, i got 12 because for some odd reason the only 2 choices for my specific system were 12 and 16....

 

I want to switch to the 1gb card and upgrade the CPU but for some reason I can't. I'm not sure why ><.

I'd prefer upgraded CPU. Though I might dual monitor at times.

If anyone wants to answer my specific questions a bit more I'd like it